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Thanks to Scott Kip, Philadelphia skateboarder and activist, the éS Game of SKATE had a good spot in Philly on Saturday, July 15, 2006: a covered roller hockey rink that turned out to be a quite a blessing as the finals rolled around and the rain started.

This was going to be the final stop for Justin Eldridge on the tourâ€”he had joined us for a few days to hang out with the kidsâ€”but he was having so much, fun he decided to stay with us and chill for another week or so.

The Philly Game had 139 skaters, and it was a pretty good field, especially as the second round started. Matt Ray, who got second in Frederick, was there, as well as Tim Wynne, who I know a lot of the éS Game of SKATE crew were pulling for.

In Philadelphia, just like in New York, there is usually some sort of drama at any skate event with a lot of people. Maybe it's something in the water? It’s probably just that the kids here don’t take any crap from anyone and are pretty quick to demand respect, one way or another. But surprisingly, everything went very well this time, with no drama, some pretty nice cooperation on the part of a lot of people once the rain started, and all-in-all a pretty enjoyable afternoon.

We were psyched to have Nocturnal as a partner in Philadelphia once again, and this time we even had Kerry Getz (owner of Nocturnal and perhaps owner of the best kickflip in skateboarding) as a guest scorekeeper for the Finals, along with Justin E. These Finals were the best of the tour, without a doubt, and that’s saying something. Tim Wynne, Matt Ray, Aaron Haas and a youngster named Tom Asta put on quite a display of skateboarding.

At one point, Tom ripped through 13 tricks in a row, and the rest of the crew still only had as much as an â€œA.â€ But as the bag of tricks got deeper, tricks like big flips, frontside Cab flips, double-frontside flips and more got flung with ease, until finally Tom was the last man standing. He will be going to San Diego with his new Boost Mobile i875 phone. Tom’s my favorite for the Finals, but of course, anything can happen, and usually does. San Diego awaits.--Mark Waters